Ronald Edward Holloway (born August 24, 1953) is an American tenor saxophonist. He is listed in the ''Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' where veteran jazz critic
Ira Gitler described Holloway as a "Hard bear-down-hard-bopper who can blow authentic R&B and croon a ballad with warm, blue feeling."
Holloway is the recipient of 42 Washington Area Music Awards, or Wammies, two of which he received as musician of the year.
He has been a member of the
Warren Haynes Band,
Susan Tedeschi,
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...
,
Gil Scott-Heron and
Root Boy Slim.
Since 2014, Ron Holloway has led his own band; The Ron Holloway Band.
Biography
Early years and influences
Ron Holloway was born to Winston and Marjorie Holloway, avid jazz fans who met while attending
Howard University in Washington, D.C. Holloway recalls his father adding to his collection of
Prestige and
Blue Note jazz albums. Holloway's parents, while not musicians, provided a nurturing musical environment for their son.
Holloway's father favored the saxophone and trumpet-led albums and particularly enjoyed great horn soloists.
R&B-influenced
Willis Gator Jackson was easiest to grasp at first, but soon he identified the sounds of
Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians.
In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...
,
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...
, and
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
as his principal influences.
After high school graduation, Holloway practiced 8–12 hours a day and sat in with bands of kinds in jam sessions, which increased his versatility. He became familiar with many genres. In the same week he would often perform with groups in jazz, R&B, funk, rock, jazz fusion, blues, country, and folk.
As the Washington D.C. music scene continued to thrive in the 1970s, Holloway joined popular R&B groups the Sounds of Shea and Mad Dog and the Lowlifers.
In 1974, Holloway went to see
Freddie Hubbard in concert and brought an audio cassette tape he'd made while rehearsing to one of Hubbard's recordings. During the intermission he introduced himself and played the tape for Hubbard. After hearing the tape, Hubbard invited Holloway to come back and play with him that Sunday night. He did so and at the end of the performance Hubbard extended an open invitation to sit in with him whenever Hubbard was in town.
The next year,
Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians.
In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...
conducted a clinic at Howard University. Backed by a
rhythm section composed of local musicians, Rollins invited the young horn players onstage. Holloway joined him on Rollins's "Playin' in the Yard". After his solo, Holloway received a standing ovation from the audience. Rollins and Holloway remained in touch afterwards, becoming good friends.
The friendship and respect between the two ran both ways. Rollins has been equally generous in his praise of Holloway over the years and has mentioned him in several interviews as one of his favorite young tenor players.
Holloway admired Rollins' "....sense of organic construction, ambidextrous timing, humorous quotes, supreme swagger, infectious personality, individual choice of notes, note displacement, keen sense of drama, staccato punctuations followed by virtuosic runs, worrying a single note, a very personal tonal texture, unique use of smeared notes and more."
In the summer of 1977 a new club opened and the performers included Rollins, Hubbard and
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...
. Holloway approached Gillespie's dressing room and as he had done with Rollins, brought a tape with him- this time of his performance with Rollins. After Gillespie listened to the tape, he asked Holloway if he had brought his horn, to which Holloway confessed he hadn't because he was concerned about appearing presumptuous. Holloway found himself performing with Gillespie all week. Afterwards, he had a standing invitation to sit in with the band.
In 1979 Holloway sat in with Dizzy Gillespie at
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, England. Holloway continued to sit in with Gillespie well into the 1980s. On June 6, 1987, he performed with a large group of musicians honoring Gillespie at
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.
Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band
In 1979 Root Boy, Holloway and the rest of the
Sex Change Band participated in a film entitled ''
Mr. Mike's Mondo Video'' which was written by
Michael O'Donoghue of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
''. ''Mondo Video'' was not broadcast as NBC deemed it "sick" while ''
Spin'' later referred to it as "A TV pilot too dangerous to air."
In the early 1980s, Root Boy and Holloway made cameo appearances in a film made by the D.C. area comedy group known as The Langley Punks, for their Travesty Films group. Holloway recorded four albums with Root Boy and at least three 45's: "Too Much Jawbone" with "Xmas at K-Mart" on the flip side, "The Meltdown" backed with "Graveyard of Losers" and "Dare to Be Fat" on
I.R.S. Records. Holloway was a member of several Root Boy configurations from 1977 to 1987.
Holloway's tenure with
Root Boy Slim overlapped with two other groups. The first was a local funk band called
Osiris
Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
. Holloway first met Osiris Marsh in 1979 and found their influences included bands with eclectic tastes ranging from
Parliament-Funkadelic,
Earth, Wind, and Fire, and
Sly and the Family Stone. In addition, Osiris was interested in the culture of ancient Egypt and African American
roots music. The members of Osiris were Osiris Marsh on lead vocals, Tony Jones and Tyrone "Ty" Brunson on bass guitars, Maceo Bond on keyboards, Brent Mingle on guitar, Jimmy "Sha-Sha" Stapleton on percussion and Holloway on tenor and soprano saxophones.
Marsh, who wrote or co-wrote the majority of the band's songs with Bond and Brunson, produced an independent studio album on the band's own label, Tomdog, titled ''Since Before Our Time'' in 1978. In 1979,
Warner Bros. Records picked it up, remixed and repackaged it. Another album, ''O-Zone'' on
Marlin Records, met with similar reviews and faced the same overall inability to overcome the dance floor fever that enticed many funk and soul listeners towards
disco
Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
as the 1970s came to an end. Holloway played with Osiris from 1979 to 1981.
Gil Scott-Heron
In November 1981 Holloway visited a landmark D.C. club;
Blues Alley, where he had been told jazz drummer
Norman Connors would be performing. He brought his horn and upon arriving spotted Connors and introduced himself. With an invitation from Connors, he sat in on the next set, getting a good response from the audience. Afterward, Holloway was approached by singer and
spoken word artist,
Gil Scott-Heron, who complimented him and extended an offer to join his group, the "Amnesia Express".
In February 1982 Holloway played his first concert with Scott-Heron at
The Bottom Line in New York City with fellow saxophonist and Amnesia Express co-founder
Carl Cornwell.
The press appreciated his contributions as well, commenting on his performance in several reviews.
It happened that, early in 1982, Holloway was on board when filmmaker
Robert Mugge document
A document is a writing, written, drawing, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of nonfiction, non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ', which denotes ...
ed Scott-Heron's concert at the Wax Museum nightclub in Washington, D.C. The film is called ''Black Wax''.
Holloway found his playing evolving while in the band, commenting, "I got so many things together on my horn while playing with Gil. It was really a valuable period of self discovery." Holloway was a member of Scott-Heron's group from February 1982 until June 1989.
Dizzy Gillespie
Though he was a member of Scott-Heron's group during this period, Holloway continued to appear with Gillespie whenever he would perform in D.C.
In June 1989 he was sitting in with Dizzy at
Blues Alley.
During the intermission, Gillespie sent his manager to find Holloway. Gillespie surprised Holloway with the statement he was in need of a sax player. Holloway accepted and found himself touring the world with Gillespie, performing for audiences that varied from club capacity
to popular American television shows which included the
Johnny Carson
John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...
and
Arsenio Hall shows.
During his time with Gillespie, Holloway recorded two albums with the trumpeter; ''The Symphony Sessions'' on Pro Arte
and ''Dizzy Gillespie – Live! at Blues Alley'' on the Blues Alley label. He also played the top jazz and music festivals
theaters, and concert halls
around the world with Gillespie.
Holloway was a member of Gillespie's quintet from June 1989 until his death on January 6, 1993.
Solo recording
In the fall of 1993, Holloway recorded an album and sent the demo to his mentor, Sonny Rollins. Rollins, then forwarded the recording to
Fantasy Records and Holloway was signed to
Milestone Records, one of Fantasy's subsidiary labels, within a week's time.
To date, Holloway has released four albums on Fantasy's Milestone Records label
and another on the Jazzmont label.
The Ron Holloway Band (RHB)
In 2015, Holloway forme
The Ron Holloway Band a funk jam band centered around Holloway's multi-female vocals and Holloway's sax playing. The band debuted at the 2014 Mad Tea Party
in Hedgesville, West Virginia, and shortly after performed at
The Peach Music Festival in Scranton, PA. RHB was joined by surprise special guests
Warren Haynes and
Derek Trucks at Peach, the first of many concert sit-ins from members of
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...
,
Gov't Mule, and
Tedeschi Trucks Band.
Members of The Ron Holloway Band have included
Jenny Langer (vocals), Rodney Dunton (drums), Christopher Brown (bass), Rachel Ann Morgan (vocals), Justin Gillen (guitar), Cory Belcher
Cody Wright Wes Lanich (keys), Rod Gross (drums), Amanda Lynne (vocals), Barry Sherrard (drums), Noah Pierre (bass), Joe Poppen (guitar), and Barry Hart (drums).
2000 to 2019

Holloway met
Derek Trucks in 2002 aboard Trucks' tour bus just outside the entrance to Rams Head Onstage, in Annapolis, Maryland. Trucks surprised him with his vast knowledge of various musical genres. Holloway has since performed with Trucks many times as a guest of
The Derek Trucks Band and
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...
, toured with both the
Susan Tedeschi Band (of which Holloway was a member) and the band co-led by Trucks and Tedeschi for a couple of summers, "Soul Stew Revival".
On September 30, 2004, Little Feat were scheduled to open for the
Allman Brothers Band at
Nissan Pavilion in
Bristow, Virginia. Holloway was to accompany Little Feat. Aside from Little Feat, Holloway found himself in the company of the two featured guitarists in
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...
. This was the first time he had heard the band with its current lineup. Warren Haynes invited Holloway to sit in with the band and at the close of the concert, he performed on one of the classic tunes made famous by the band; "Southbound".
Haynes invited Holloway to appear with
Gov't Mule afterward at the
9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., and they performed two consecutive nights on October 27 and 28, 2004 before a packed house, recording both nights.
The next year, in the summer of 2005, guitarist Jack Pearson and Holloway toured with The Allman Brothers Band, filling in for an ailing Warren Haynes.
It was the beginning of many performances where Holloway appeared with The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule, playing the
Beacon Theatre in New York City, Nissan Pavilion in
Bristow, Virginia, the
Wanee Festival in
Live Oak, Florida,
Merriweather Post Pavilion in
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...
,
Warner Theatre (Washington, D.C.) and
The Warren Haynes Christmas Jam,
which Haynes hosts annually, in
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...
.
In January 2010, Gov't Mule hosted their first "Gov't Mule Island Exodus" in the same resort in Negril, Jamaica that Holloway had visited with Little Feat. Over the course of the four nights, Gov't Mule performed three evening concerts,
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals played three shows and Warren Haynes played a solo set. Guesting throughout were
DJ Logic (turntables), "Mean" Willie Green (drums) and Holloway (tenor sax).
Susan Tedeschi

In October 2005 Holloway finally heard
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
and
soul singer,
Susan Tedeschi perform with her own group at
Rams Head Live! in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, Maryland. Tedeschi and Holloway met previously a couple of years before while guesting with her husband, Derek Trucks, at the
Wanee Festival and a show at
The Birchmere, (in suburban Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.). After renewing their acquaintance and performing that night, Tedeschi invited Holloway to join her band. For the next few years, the band toured across Europe
and extensively throughout the United States, playing major festivals,
concert halls,
theaters
and clubs. Tedeschi, along with her band have also appeared on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien''
and have been seen on countless local news spots as they toured across the United States. Along with the airplay her recordings receive, Tedeschi has performed live many times on radio stations across the country, including
NPR.
Holloway was a member of Tedeschi's band for four years.
Warren Haynes
In February 2009, Warren Haynes began work on a solo project at Pedernales Studio, in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, with
Gordie Johnson as co-producer and engineer. The recording featured
George Porter Jr. on electric bass,
Ivan Neville on keyboards, Raymond Weber on drums,
Ian McLagan on additional keyboards,
Ruthie Foster on vocals and Holloway on tenor saxophone.
The resulting album, ''Man in Motion'', was released on May 10, 2011, on the
Stax/
Concord Music Group label.
The debut of The Warren Haynes Band took place during the 22nd Annual
Warren Haynes Christmas Jam, which was held at the
Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday, December 11, 2010.
The group line-up was; Warren Haynes (lead vocals/guitar), Ivan Neville (keys/vocals), Ron Johnson (electric bass), Terence Higgins (drums), Ruthie Foster (vocals) and Holloway (tenor saxophone).
After the release of ''Man in Motion'', Holloway joined Haynes, Higgins, Johnson, and keyboardist Nigel Hall for an extensive tour.
Devon Allman
Having been introduced to
Gregg Allman while playing with The Allman Brothers Band, Holloway encountered his son, Devon Allman at the Iota Club & Cafe in
Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
, on March 31, 2009, when Devon's band
Honeytribe performed there. Allman contacted Holloway when his band,
Honeytribe were preparing to record their second album and had need of a saxophone player. Holloway traveled to
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
, and spent two days recording with the band at
Ardent Studios for Honeytribe's sophomore release; ''
Space Age Blues''. The CD was released in October 2010 to positive reviews.
2023
Summer 2023, played with Gov't Mule during Dark Side of the Mule tour
Discography
As leader
With Dizzy Gillespie
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holloway, Ron
1953 births
African-American saxophonists
American jazz tenor saxophonists
American funk saxophonists
American male saxophonists
American rock saxophonists
American session musicians
Bebop saxophonists
Fantasy Records artists
Folk jazz saxophonists
Hard bop saxophonists
Jazz-blues saxophonists
Jazz-funk saxophonists
Jazz fusion saxophonists
Living people
Milestone Records artists
Musicians from Washington, D.C.
Post-bop saxophonists
Rhythm and blues saxophonists
Soul-jazz saxophonists
21st-century American saxophonists
Jazz musicians from Maryland
21st-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American musicians